Kuroko in America
by Frostyfall
Summary: Left in Japan with his Grandmother, she dies, and Kuroko is forced to move to California where the rest of his family lives. He leaves Seirin behind and gains a new life in America.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!

Warning: there is NO happy ending, okay slight happy ending

"Yo! Testu!"

"Hey Kuroko!"

"Hiya Kuroko-cchi!"

Kuroko was surrounded by such wonderful, bright, friendly people. They were all his lights, even if they weren't his "official" lights like Kagami and Aomine, all of his friends brightened up his dark world. And Kuroko cherished each and every one of them, they were all precious to him and couldn't be replaced, like pearls found on a beach. Sure, they caused him grief sometimes like those dark days with no lights (1) after Teiko Basketball team.

His lights and love of basketball were the only things that kept him going, but they didn't know that, and Kuroko wanted to keep it that way. Kuroko lived by himself with Nigou, in a small apartment. The rest of his family, his bratty little sister, his caring, loving mother, and his stern but playful father, all moved to America when Tetsuya was in his second year of Teiko. His friendship was at its peak, and he had plenty of lights to brighten his world. Everything was perfect and fine, until Kuroko's father's company went bankrupt, and fired him. His father was jobless for about a week before he finally got a job offer in LA. The offer was perfect, he would be getting twice the amount of cash he did before, and he would get a month off work each year! (2)

It was right in the middle of the school year, but the people needed his father for the job ASAP. The kids were given two options, stay in Japan with Grandmother, or come to America with father. His little sister, who had anger issues, a bad reputation, and didn't have any friends, jumped on the chance to start over in America, and began learning English. Tetsuya hesitated, leave all his friends behind and start over going unnoticed again, or staying with Grammy. Tetsuya reasoned to stay behind, he rather liked his current life, and didn't want to change.

So in the end, Kuroko stayed behind with his old Grandmother, while the rest of his family went to America. As the third year of Teiko was closing, his world turned upside down.

His friends, his lights, his one sole reason to stay in Japan, began to change, and before he knew it they weren't who they used to be. They were just arrogant pricks, who had the skill to be arrogant. They used to be so close, having fun during games, now they were just strangers. Kuroko didn't even recognize them any more. Sure, he recognized the faces, the hair, the voice, but suddenly they weren't the same any more. They were strangers who stole his friends' bodies.

While the others might have friends outside of the Generation of Miracles, Kuroko didn't. No one ever noticed him, that's why the GoM and his friends were so special. Because THEY were the ones that noticed him, and took the time to know him. That made each one of them special, each one a beautiful, shining jewel in Kuroko's eyes. But they weren't jewels anymore, just petty rocks, who had better things to do than hang out with a useless shadow like Kuroko.

Kuroko's love of basketball was the only thing left that kept him going, but even that began to fade as his teammates soiled the last thing he loved. They soiled it so much, he even began to hate the thing he loved so dearly.

Eventually he was just a walking shell, waiting to be hit by a truck, to be relieved of the burden that he called life. He was suicidal at one point. Soon his Grandmother fell ill. She was very old, sickly, and frail like Tetsuya, every day she got older, and sicker. Kuroko has just been waiting for the perfect excuse to leave the basketball team, so as soon as she had a rather nasty coughing fit, he wrote a resignation letter. So then for a week it became a routine, Kuroko would go to school, come home, and read, while keeping an eye on his Grandmother.

* * *

One day, when Kuroko was at school, no thought of his Grandmother in his head, he was called to the office. No one noticed as he left, and no one noticed when he arrived to the office, he had to make his presence known. The principal was on the phone with a grim look on his face, nodding and looking concerned.

"Ah. Hello. Is there something you need me for?" Asked Kuroko looking directly at the Principal as he made his presence known. The principal jumped a bit, but set the phone down, and said,

"H-hello Kuroko. I'm sorry to deliver such bad news, but your Grandmother is in surgery right now, and is on the verge of death. She had a heart attack and was hit by car while crossing the road. We'd just like to let you know that you are free to go to the hospital now." Kuroko stopped listening after he said that Grammy got hit by a car. He was already out of the school on his way to the hospital by the time the principal said hospital.

As he ran to the hospital, which was about a mile away, thoughts filled his head.

"Why am I so selfish? She loves and worries about me all the time, while I didn't even think of her once. What if she dies? What will I do then? I can't take it if she dies. She's my Grammy and I love her! I wonder if Mom and Dad are coming… What if she doesn't make it? It'll be all my fault! I should've cared for her more. I should've…" And before Kuroko knew it, he was outside the hospital, gasping for breath.

He stood up and walked briskly inside. He calmly asked for his Grandmother's surgery room, and practically ran up the stairs and burst into the waiting room. There was a nurse waiting.

"Ah. You must be Ms. Kuroko's grandson. The surgery is already over. I'm sorry to say, but there's nothing much else we can do for her. She's got maybe half a day left, at best." Kuroko was still panting from his run.

"*huff* Yes, ma'am. *huff* Where is *huff* she now?"

"She's in room 208. Please don't disturb her too much, she needs her rest." And with that Kuroko ran to room 208 stopping right before opening the door, with his hand on the door.

"What if… What if she's already dead? They already said she wouldn't make it. It's all my fault, I know it is…" His hand slowly dropped from the door. Down to stop by his side.

"No! She's my Grandmother. I must see her. I must see her before it's too late." He opened the door in a burst of courage.

It was an ordinary hospital room, the blinds were down, while his grandmother was sleeping soundly with the faint snores every now and then that reassured Kuroko she wasn't dead. Kuroko sat in the waiting chair, staring at his Grandmother, waiting for her to wake up. It was a full two hours before she awoke. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around, smiling fondly when she saw Kuroko who rushed to her bedside at the stirring.

"Grammy. Please tell me how you're doing! Please tell me it's going to be all right. Tell me you're not going to die. Tell me…"

"Hush child. I feel fine, but I can tell my time is up. I've led a good life, with few regrets. Listen, everything will be alright, if it's not alright, then it's not the end alright?" She stroked his cheek tenderly, like a mother would.

"I know you're suicidal and depressed. But, please don't join me in the heavens, until you've lived a good life. That's my final wish. Please honor it. I love you more than anything in the world." He wrapped her in a hug, once rare tears were now streaming down his face like a river.

"I love you, Grandmother. Please don't go. Please don't…" She coughed a nasty cough, he looked up. There was blood running down her chin, she was smiling fondly looking down at her grandchild.

"I love you, too, Tetsuya." He could see the light fade out of her eyes, as she went limp.

"… go…No! Grandmother! Grammy! No! Please wake up! Please…" Kuroko mourned over his Grandmother's death for the next few days, wearing all black to mourn. The black attire made Kuroko even more invisible than usual, so nobody saw the tears that leaked out sometimes.

The funeral was three days after her death, Kuroko still hadn't gotten over it by then. But at least his family returned to Japan for the funeral, to mourn with him. Him, his father, his mother, and his sister. That was all that was left of the Kuroko clan. Kuroko was determined to cherish every one of them. They buried Grandmother next to Grandfather while playing her favorite song.

* * *

The family was staying at his apartment for about a week, to help get rid of Grandmother's old things. Kuroko detested the idea of throwing out her precious items, but he knew it had to be done.

They were done clearing out the stuff by the second day, they still had five days left before the flight back to LA was scheduled. Meaning five days to be a real family again.

Now that the Grandmother was gone, there was no guardian to watch over Kuroko in Japan while the rest of the family was in America. Mother and Father tried their best at convincing Kuroko to come to America for high school, but Kuroko was stubborn. He couldn't leave things how they were with his friends. When he explained the situation to his parents, they understood, but managed to bargain out a deal where Kuroko comes to America during the summer and stayed in Japan during the school year until he sorted everything out. Kuroko's sister, Sunya, just told all about America, how great it was, and how different. She had mellowed out a bit, but she had long way to go to be calm like Tetsuya.

The last 5 days were spent, acting like an actual family. The third day was spent on Kuroko's graduation ceremony, which they all attended. Kuroko felt loved again. It felt great. It almost filled the hole left by his teammates. Almost. His heart ached every time they were mentioned. He would fix them, he swore!

School was out for the summer, and Kuroko was out of middle school. His family convinced him to come with them to America on the fifth day. He would come back to Japan a week before High school started, he chose a school that had very flexible regulations, meaning he could take a week out of school any time he wanted to come to America, except for exam week. His parents approved of this school, and he was signed up, due to return to school in 3 months. He had 3 months in America.

Father got a plane ticket for Kuroko quickly, and soon they were off. The flight was a lot longer than expected, but at least it gave Kuroko enough time to read up on his English books, and other informational books for LA. His sister was watching anime, taking naps, reading, and annoying Kuroko in between her activities. His mother was sitting next to Kuroko and was helping Kuroko pronounce English properly, and telling Kuroko about America. His father was taking a well-deserved nap.

Kuroko was glad that English was the language he took in Teiko. Teiko was a prestigious school, and had excellent education, they taught English quite well. So due to Teiko, he was already familiar with the words, grammar, and language. But while Teiko taught him that, his pronunciation was terrible, they spent almost two thirds of the flight on that. His mother told him about all the nice children, the new house, and generally how things worked in America. By the end of the flight Kuroko was an expert, his pronunciation was still bad, but not as bad as before, he would pick up the correct pronunciations soon enough.

* * *

Once they landed, they got off the plane, went through customs, and went to collect their luggage. Kuroko was following them, but was mostly looking around taking everything in. Once they had their luggage, they went to the parking lot and got in the car to drive to the house. On the way to the house, Kuroko's sister told him popular local slang, and about her friends in rapid fire English that Kuroko struggled to process.

It was a long car drive that lasted about an hour and thirty minutes long, there was heavy traffic and 67 miles (3) between the house and the airport. The house was huge compared to the apartment, Kuroko blinked in surprise. It was a lavish house that only mildly rich families could afford; he couldn't believe that they could afford it.

They pulled into the two-car garage, emptied out their luggage, and began unpacking. Apparently Kuroko had his own room! It was much bigger than the one in the apartment, the bed was comfy, the floors were mahogany, there was a computer, a tv, and a desk! It was all and more than Kuroko could ask for!

Once the family was done unpacking, they gathered to have dinner. Kuroko was told the rules of the house (curfew and such) and was warned not to break them. Kuroko was also warned about the time difference, it would take some getting used to.

By the time they were done cleaning up dinner, it was almost 9pm, and Kuroko was told to go to bed at ten. He had an hour to do whatever he wanted. He explored the house. It was really quite a big house, and it took most of the hour to explore. At ten he went to bed.

The next morning he woke at 10 AM. The sun was shining in through the blinds and onto his eyes, blinding them. As he stumbled down to the kitchen to get some breakfast, he noticed his sister run down the halls with another girl of her age. Sonya introduced the girl as her best friend named Olivia.

"Hey! Tetsuya! This is my best friend, Olivia."

"Yeah! I'm Olivia! How old are you?"

"Hello, Olivia. I'm 15."

"I have an big brother that's your age! You should be friends with him! His name is Matthew, but everyone calls him Mattie. I'll bring him over next time to play!"

"…I'm looking forward to it." The two ten year olds ran off to Sunya's room to do whatever girls do. Kuroko got a bagel with plain cream cheese, and ate it. Then he began walking around the neighborhood, mentally mapping it. It was a hot day, and Kuroko was sweating slightly when he returned to the house at 12. For lunch, he had a turkey sandwich. The flavors in America were different than in Japan, and it took some getting used to. For the rest of the day, Kuroko looked for a good reading spot outside, and when he found a shaded bench in a park, he sat down and began reading the Japanese version of Peter Pan.

He was really into this book, and was undisturbed until a basketball rolled against his feet. He set the book down, sighed, picked the ball up, stood up, and looked around for the owner of said ball. There was a court on top of a hill, with a few people waving their arms at Kuroko. Kuroko was shocked, they actually noticed him! There was another person running down the hill, presumably they had been chasing after the ball, they stopped and were waiting with open arms for Kuroko to throw the ball to him. It was a big distance, but Kuroko managed to get it to the other boy.

"Hey! Thanks! Who're you? I haven't seen you before. Wanna come join us?" The boy called to Kuroko. It took Kuroko a second, but he nodded, and walked over to the boy with the ball, who was waiting.

Tetsuya didn't really want to play basketball anymore, after all he hated that sport. But he decided that to make his stay during the summer more enjoyable was to have friends. And since they noticed him, which in itself was rare, he decided he would make them his friends, even if the way to make them become his friends was through that accursed sport.

He walked calmly up the hill, joining the other boy, and continuing on to the court. He gave the ball a few bounces, looked around and introduced himself.

"Hello. I am… Tetsuya Kuroko. (4) May I join you all in… basuketball?"

"Haha. Yeah. It's actually basketball; you've got a bit of an accent there. So where're you from?"

"Ah… I am from Japan. This is my first day in America, please excuse my Engrish and accent. I will be staying until the end of the summer. Please take care of me." He did a small bow. A different boy spoke up.

"Cool! You're from Japan? That's awesome! We only get a couple foreigners! While you're here, it'll be fun! We all come here every day during the summer, it'll be great for you to join us! Anyways but I'm Michael." He opened his hands for a pass, Kuroko lightly tossed the ball, and it was caught by Michael.

"Here, in order to let ya know everybody's names, I'll pass around the ball. Whoever has the ball gets to introduce themselves to the Tetsuya… Hey, Tetsuya, mind if we call you something' shorter?" There were murmurs of agreement with the plan. Kuroko nodded. Michael passed the ball to Tetsuya.

"Ah.. umm.. You may all call me Tetsu." There were some okays, cools, awesomes, and greats. He looked around and passed it to the boy that had led him up the hill to the court.

"Well, hey. I'm Matthew, but everybody calls me Mattie. I think you met my little sister, she said something about a new kid. Anyways, I hope we become friends soon, that is, if you don't die first." He gave an evil grin, and passed the ball to a blonde kid.

"YO! I'M JOHN! I AM BETTER THAN ALL OF THESE DWEEBS AT BASKETBALL!" He smiled real big, and forcefully passed it to a smaller Indian-looking kid.

"H-hi. I'm Arian. Nice to meet you." He looked around, and passed it to a cool, gum-chewing kid.

"Hey. Name's Kyle." He blew a bubble and popped it. He passed it to a bald kid.

"Psh! Kyle's tryin' ta be cool!" He hit Kyle on the head, and pushed up his glasses.

"Oh. I'm Elijah. Don't worry, you'll fit in just fine." He passed the ball to a tall kid in the back.

"Hello, I'm Spencer. Do you know any cute Japanese girls that you could hook me up with? Or, well, any girls in general? I'm kinda desperate." He gave a warm smile, but it fell into a sad, disappointed face when Kuroko shook his head 'no'. "Oh well, what can you do?" He tossed the ball carelessly up in the air. Michael caught it, and said,

"Well, that's everybody. Okay! So back on to basketball, now that you're here we can play four on four. John you can come back on the court." John gave out his victory cries.

"Okay, how 'bout we start a new game? Let's keep it quick, we only got 30 minutes left. How about first to… about 11 points?" There were murmurs of agreements.

"Alright, Arian, will you do the honors?"

Kuroko looked confused, he had enough trouble understanding and translating the English, but if he translated it right, what would Arian be doing? Elijah took notice of his confusion and explained,

"Arian always chooses the teams, because we would ruin our friendships if two people were team captains. We know he always chooses fairly, and the teams are always different to keep the game interesting." Kuroko nodded in understanding, English was a little hard to follow but Kuroko managed to keep up. After thinking a bit, Arian spoke,

"Alright the teams will be me, Elijah, Michael, John, and Tetsu, Mattie, Spencer, Kyle." Some looked around at their teammates, the others nodded. All except for John.

"WHAT?! NO FAIR! NO FAIR! DON'T THESE TEAMS SEEM AT LEAST A LITTLE UNBALANCED?!"

"Is something wrong John? I thought you said that you were better than all of us in basketball, unless you were lying, you should have no problem with this setup", Ali stated.

"WHAT?! OF COURSE NOT! I DID NOT LIE! I'M WAY BETTER THAN ALL OF YOU IN BASKETBALL! HAHAHA! JUST WATCH ME WIN!" Some of the boys snickered, and laughed at how easily John was manipulated. Tetsuya watched amused, and smiled warmly. It reminded Tetsuya of Akashi's conversations with Aomine and Kise during practice. Kuroko shook his head, clearing his mind of painful memories. Kuroko along with the rest walked onto the court, his eyes shadowed. The two teams lined up, and played rock paper scissors for possession of the ball. Arian's team won. Kuroko was on defense.

They played man-to-man defense, and actually weren't terrible compared to an average high school team. Kuroko was guarding John, the teen was quick on his feet and the ball was passed to him quickly. But the ball never reached him. Kuroko stole the ball and began running down the court, after deactivating his misdirection.

"Yeah! A steal! Nice one Tetsu! Go to shoot! Go to shoot!" His teammates cheered him on. Kuroko knew he couldn't shoot baskets, but he tried anyways, just for the hell of it. He took the general shooting form, and took the shot. Kuroko closed his eyes and waited for the sound of the ball being bounced off the hoop and on to the court. But it never came, he only heard the sound of the basketball bouncing off the backboard and swishing into the net. He opened his eyes and blinked in surprise. That was unexpected.

"Hey! Good shot!"

By the time he opened his eyes, the rest caught up to him, and were rebounding after the ball. Kuroko was back on defense. It went like this for the rest of the game; the scores went back and forth. They didn't really play to the rules of basketball, there were a few fouls that went unnoticed, and almost no rough play, they were all friends, and friends aren't complete bastards to each other.

Before he knew it, the thirty minutes were up, and his team had won. Tetsuya had fun, he would become friends with these people even if the way to do that was to play basketball.

A car pulled up to the court, Arian opened the door and hopped in.

"Seeya tomorrow!" The friends shouted their goodbyes and waved him off. Next was Spencer's car, it was a slick sports car, there was a businessman with a disgusted look on his face. Spencer got in the car reluctantly, this time the boys said no goodbyes and there were no waves. Elijah explained,

"Spencer's family is really rich, like really really rich. They kinda look down on all of us, just because we don't live in the super rich neighborhood. They don't like Spencer hanging out with us. Spencer's cool, but his family is a bunch of stuck up assholes."

"Ah. I see." Kuroko took note of this new information, he should know basics about his new friends. They were all sitting on top of the hill, overlooking the park where Kuroko had been reading in earlier. The wind whistled through their hair and clothing, cooling them off. It was peaceful. Kuroko would like it here. Elijah suddenly stood up drawing all attention to himself.

"Well, Kyle, we should get going. It's supposed to start raining at 4 something." He turned to Kuroko. "We both live like 20 minutes away from here. You were reading here earlier right? Do you live close by?"

"Yes. It only took five minutes to get here. I live on Oak lane."

"Okay. I think Mattie lives there too… Hey! Mattie!" The teen in question was not paying attention, and was snapped back into reality.

"Huh?! Who? Oh. It's you. What do you want?"

"You live on Oak line right?"

"Yep."

"Well, so does Tetsu. Me and Kyle are going now. Seeya." They began to walk, soon they were out of sight. Michael's pocket buzzed, he pulled out his cell phone. His face paled and he stood up quickly, shoving the phone into his pocket.

"Sorry! I gotta go! I didn't finish a couple of my chores, and mom's gonna be home in 30." He took off running down the hill. He had a good start, but half way down he tripped on his feet and rolled down the hill until he hit flat ground. The remaining boys on the top of the hill burst out in laughter, even Kuroko felt compelled to laugh. Michael stood up, brushed himself off and began running again, only to trip over himself four more times.

For some reason it was the funniest thing the boys had ever seen. They were laughing so hard and long that their stomachs hurt and they were rolling around on the grass clutching their gut. One by one, yes even Kuroko, accidentally rolled down the hill. Every time someone rolled down the hill, the laughter increased. Kuroko was the last one to roll down the hill, because at first he was holding in his laughter quite well, but laughter is contagious and he too fell victim.

After the laughter died down a bit, they laid there at the bottom of the hill, looking at the clouded grey sky, talking about random stuff. Eventually, a little ten-year-old boy dressed in baseball gear came and led John away. It was John's little brother. Soon they, too, were gone. It was just Kuroko and Mattie.

"So, Tetsu, I think I know where you live. You have a little sister named Sonya right?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. I know where you live. My little sister is friends with yours. She goes over to your place all the time! I have to go pick her up every day after basketball! She's expecting me to pick her up soon, and it looks like its gonna rain. You wanna walk together?"

"Sure. I need to pick up my book, I do not wish for it to get wet."

"Alright." They stood up, walked over to the bench, and picked up Kuroko's book. Mattie took it, and flipped through all the pages.

"Woah! This whole thing is in Japanese! You can read this?"

"Yes. I am Japanese. It would not make sense if I could not. Please use common sense." At this, Mattie developed a tick mark.

"Why you…!" But he was interrupted by a single drop of water, which was followed by a few more, then hundreds. It began pouring very quickly, nobody was left in the park. Mattie quickly closed the book, and along with Kuroko, made a mad dash to the bus stop, where there was shelter. By the time they got there, they were soaking wet, and Kuroko's book was most likely ruined.

"Sorry about your book."

"It's fine. I can dry it out when I get home." He began flipping through the pages to see if how much damage was done. It was a lot, but it could be fixed. He sighed and closed the book.

"It's coming down pretty heavy. We should probably wait for it to die down a bit." Testu nodded and agreed. But Mattie continued.

"But, that's what we should do, not what we're going to do. Here, follow me." Mattie walked outside, into the steady rain, into the rippling puddles on the street, and ran to the other side of the street. Kuroko did the same, but covering his book like a football player. They were standing underneath a large palm tree. Mattie began climbing the slick, wet tree.

"What are you doing?! You'll slip and fall!" Kuroko was concerned. Mattie answered when he made it halfway up with some difficulty.

"Hey! Don't worry! I've done this plenty of times when it's dry! I can do this! If I fall, you can act as a human cushion right?"

"If by that you mean, you want me to catch you, then I suppose I can do it. Be careful."

Suddenly the rain let up a bit, and Kuroko began to feel relieved. It didn't last long, soon the rain and wind came back harder than before, making the palm tree sway. Mattie lost his footing, and was only holding on by hugging the tree and digging his fingernails into the trunk.

"Matthew!" Kuroko was now really worried, it was difficult enough to stay in one place on the sidewalk, it must have been next to impossible to stay on the trunk.

"Don't… Nghh… Worry! I'll be.. ughh.. fine!" It was easy to see how hard it was for him to stay on.

"Just come down! You'll die at this rate!"

"Nggh! NO! I CAN DO THIS!" It was getting harder to see and hear him as he climbed higher. It began to thunder, and lightening hit the phone lines, which were close to the palm tree. The thunder was deafening. The phone lines caught on fire. At this rate, the palm tree would catch on fire as well. Kuroko couldn't let his new friend die so quickly. He yelled for Mattie to come down, but Mattie couldn't hear over the rain, and apparently he didn't notice his impending doom. Mattie still hadn't gotten his footing just right, he was holding on with his arms.

Kuroko took the book, aimed for Mattie's elbow, and passed the book with all his might. The wind and rain put it slightly off course, but it managed to knock the teen off the tree. Kuroko then sprinted to where he guessed the teen would fall. The ground was wet and Tetsuya had a hard time keeping traction. Mattie was falling quickly from where he had gripped on to which was around ten feet high. Kuroko just barely managed to get under Mattie to catch him.

Mattie fell quickly, he was heavy, wet, and slippery, he wasn't exactly the easiest thing for Kuroko to catch. But somehow Kuroko did, the impact forced him on to the ground. Kuroko was sure there would be a bruise, he would feel that in the morning. But Mattie seemed to be unhurt, and that was enough for Kuroko.

"OW! What the hell Testu?! I almost got up there!" Kuroko smiled lightly and pointed to the tree.

"What's that supposed to mean?! I was just climbing that tree until you threw that goddamned book at me! What the hell?!" The fire that Kuroko was worried about was put out by the rain, but the palm tree was struck by lightning and fell over. Where Mattie was climbing was now burnt to a crisp. Mattie got off Kuroko, and looked at what might've happened if he stayed on any longer.

"Is there anything you'd like to say to me?" Tetsu sounded smug, Mattie was almost pissed, it was like he planned that the palm would be struck by lightning. He sighed and swallowed his pride.

"Thanks."

"For?"

"Saving my life. Thanks for saving my life."

"No problem. Now lets go to my place."

"Okay. Won't we get wet? Oh wait… that doesn't really matter anymore does it?"

"Not really." They walked to Kuroko's house not caring about the rain, since they were already soaked. They came across his house and rang the doorbell.

It was answered by Kuroko's mother.

"Hello, Mrs. Kuroko."

"Hello, Mother." Kuroko's mom ushered them inside, got them towels to dry off, and then bombarded them with questions.

"Why are you both soaking wet? Are you two friends? Why were you out in that storm? Are you both okay? What happened?" She was only stopped by Mattie.

"Um. Excuse me, Mrs. Kuroko. But is my little sister, Olivia here? I need to walk her home."

"Sorry, Mathew. But she went home earlier to not get caught in the storm. Would you like to stay until it passes?" Matthew considered his options. He turned to Tetsu.

"That okay with you?"

"Certainly. We can go to my room to hang out." Tetsu's mom was shocked, her normally reserved and emotionless son was showing at least 30% more emotion than usual and was inviting people he met that day into his room! He was never this friendly with anyone back in Japan! If just one day in America could change her son to this extent, then she wondered how he would be at the end of the summer!

The boys went down the hallway bringing their towels, they entered Tetsu's room, and sat down on their towels.

"Sorry Tetsu. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. It's fine. Would you like some snacks?"

"Haha! Don't be so formal, I'm not some teacher you have to be nice to!"

"Alright. So then, snacks?"

"Nah. I'm fine. Just a bit worn out from all that climbing. Hey. Do me a favor and don't tell any of this to anyone, 'kay? Let's make a cover story right now."

"What exactly is a cover story? I do not have that in my English vocabulary."

"Oh, right. I forget that English isn't your first language, you speak it so well. Anyways a cover story is a lie to cover something up. Like if I wanted to cover up who ate the last hot dog, I might say the dog ate it, or something like that. But it has to sound believable. That's the important part. The best way for it to sound believable is to mix some truth into the lie. Get it? Now got any ideas? We have to stick with the same cover story."

"Yes, I 'get it'. But why do we need to cover it up? You did something irresponsible, and I saved your life."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't rub it in. Your parents might be cool with you saving my life, but my parents would flip if they found out I almost died. So I need a cover story. Oh! How about "After everyone left basketball, it began raining, we waited under the bus stop, and eventually we became tired of waiting and we walked to your house" sound good?"

"Yes, it sounds believable. Lets go with that."

"Okay. Phew. That's a load off my back. So are you gonna go play basketball with us again tomorrow?"

"Yes. I am looking forward to it."

"Cool. I can't wait to play either. We used to be all in the same elementary school, but then we all went to different middle schools. So over the summer and on weekends we all meet up at a place that everyone can reach. We can't do anything on weekdays, because there's always so much homework. Like 3-4 hours every night! It sucks. How long was the flight over here?" They went back and forth with this casual banter. Kuroko noticed the conversation flowed freely, it wasn't forced or awkward, and that is the type of conversation close friends have.

Soon, the rain let up, and there was a beautiful rainbow stretching across the sky. The Kuroko's sent Mattie on his way, and proceeded to question Testu on his day. To their surprise, Tetsu was happy and actually liked America. They gathered and had dinner.

When Tetsu finally had time to himself, he went on his computer and check his social media accounts, he never posted anything, but his teammates forced him to get an account. Kise had posted his most recent photo shoot, Midorama posted tomorrow's horoscope, Murasakibara liked pictures of candy, Aomine was posting porn again, and Akashi posted shogi tactics.

Testu logged off, and went to bed, he couldn't wait for tomorrow.

And so the rest of the summer went by in a flash, every day he would wake up at eight, and read until twelve, at twelve to one he would have lunch, from one to four he would play basketball, afterwards he would hang out with Mattie until dinner at seven. From seven to eight he would have dinner, from eight to ten he would do random stuff online, at ten he would sleep. It was a good schedule, and Kuroko loved each and every day in America.

His friends changed his view on basketball entirely, he loved basketball, he loved going out on the court everyday, and having fun with his friends. Kuroko normally was emotionless, but they somehow managed to squeeze emotion out of him whether Kuroko wanted to or not. They all became great friends, and greater lights, they brightened his world, so much that he was blinded. He treasured each and every one of them. But while they all might be super close, Mattie was special. He hung out the most with Mattie, and thus had the strongest relationship with him. Mattie brought out the devious side in Kuroko, they often did pranks on their little sisters and friends. Mattie wasn't just a friend anymore, he was a brother.

Around half way through the summer, Tetsuya got a dog for his birthday (5), the dog looked so much like Tetsuya they named the dog Niguo or Number 2.

* * *

Soon the end of summer arrived, Tetsuya was a completely different person, but it was time to go back to Japan for high school. He told his situation to his friends and they advised him on what to do with the GoM. He had a battle plan, and he would win and get his old friends back!

The day before Tetsuya had to leave, all his friends, neighbors and family threw him a big goodbye party. There was loads of cakes, tears, and goodbyes. Mattie, his friends, and his family saw him off at the airport. His friends promised to learn Japanese (even though his English was excellent and had no need for them to learn Japanese, but it's the thought that count), keep in contact, and stay friends.

The flight this time was around the same time, but it seemed 100 times longer. Kuroko wished he could stay in America with his friends, but he knew he had to make things right with GoM. On the flight there, he brushed up on his Japanese, he was really good with English now, even his thoughts were in English, so it was difficult to make the switch back.

Once he arrived home in the apartment, sad memories of his grandmother sprung to his mind. He shook them away, and began unpacking, school would start in a week. So for the duration of that week, he busied himself with unpacking, getting ready for school life, and finding Niguo. He brought the dog with him to Japan, but it seems the dog had run off. He knew Niguo would show up eventually so he didn't worry too much.

He started the school year, and it went pretty smoothly, the basketball team did extremely well beating all the Generation of Miracles teams by the end of the year, Kuroko's grades, especially his English grades, were extremely high. Kuroko was a honor student. Eventually his dog showed up, and Kuroko took Niguo home and kept a better watch over him.

* * *

With every victory against the GoM, another light returned to Tetsuya's life, as they reverted back to their normal selves. He was also close with Seirin, they all light up his world. Even if those lights were dim, they still light it up. He even found another major light source, Kagami, they weren't the best of friends, he would never replace his friends in America, but he still lit up Kuroko's world. Soon he had many more lights, than Tetsuya could ever imagine. Even people who weren't on his team were still his friends.

As the school year ended, students were preparing for exams, and one day the Seirin basketball club members were talking about what they would do over the summer.

"I'm gonna go to Kyoto!"

"I'm gonna go to summer camp!"

"I'm gonna-" The member speaking was cut of by Riko hitting him on the head with a paper fan.

"No! You're all going to be training for basketball. Isn't that right?" She let off a ton of bloodlust. The whole team paled, and nodded their heads.

"Yes, coach!" All except for Kuroko, he didn't pale or say 'yes coach!'. He raised his hand and said,

"Ano. Sorry coach. But I will not be able to come to practice after graduation." The team looked to Kuroko, now fearing for his safety. They coach let off even more bloodlust poorly hidden behind a smile.

"I'm sorry. I must have misheard you. Repeat that again."

"I will not be able to come to practice after graduation." The team truly believed Kuroko had a death wish.

"Oh? And why not?" This coach was really fucking scary when she wanted to be!

"Next year, I will not be going to this school. I am moving, and will not be able to come here again." The team blinked in surprise and shouted in unison,

"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US BEFORE?!"

"I knew you all would react like this. I'm sorry, I truly would like to stay for another but my family is moving." The coach sighed as the team took in this newfound information.

"Alright. But at least come to practice until then."

"Sorry Coach, but I must pack on Saturday and Sunday. I will be at graduation on Monday, so then we can say goodbye." With that practice resumed, but Kuroko never gave away where he would be moving to. In the locker room, the team got dressed out to go home after practice.

"Hey, Kuroko. So are you ready to go to Maji Burger?"

"Sorry, Kagami. But I must go home and pack, after all I am moving right after graduation."

"So soon?! But today is Friday! And graduation is on Monday!"

"And that is why I must pack now." Kuroko went home, without receiving any more questions.

Kagami went to Maji Burger as usual, but without Kuroko, he had to say it was lonely without someone to eat with. When he was halfway through his mountain of burgers, the doors opened and in came some very colorful people.

After the colorful people got their food, they looked for a place to sit, all the tables were full, except for by one red head. This redhead noticed them when they came in through the door, and was hiding his face as not to get recognized.

"Hey! Kagami-icchi! We're gonna sit with you!" And thus the colorful trio of Aomine, Momoi, and Kise sat down at Kagami's booth. Aomine looked around, and said lazily,

"So what are you doing here by yourself? Tetsu's not here, is he?" For some reason, the way Aomine said that pissed Kagami off.

"No, he's not. He has to go pack," Kagami said through gritted teeth. It drew the trio's attention.

"Ne? Pack? Explain." Aomine said.

"Pack? Kuroko-ichi's packing? Why? Is he going somewhere? And he didn't tell me?"

"Why would Tetsuya be packing?" Kagami took another bite of his burger, and swallowed.

"Apparently, he's moving after graduation, which for us is in three days." The trio was shocked, something this big was happening in their friend's life, and said friend didn't even tell them!

"Kuroko-ichi's/Tetsu/ya's moving?!" They asked in unison, then looked at each other as if then, Momoi began to speak with a determined look in her eye.

"Where to?" Kagami was slurping up his drink, and choked and spit it out when she asked this. His eyes widened as he coughed.

"Uhh…."

"You mean you don't know! How could you not know where you best friend is moving to?! Kagami-icchi, I'm disappointed in you."

"Um… Um… Well, in practice he just kinda dropped the bomb and walked away, he didn't really give us the chance to question him… I guess I should've asked that."

"You think so, BAKAgami? Anyways, why don't we just ask him now? I have his number. I'll put him on speaker." Aomine said, as he took out his cell phone, and dialed Kuroko's number. It rang five times, before it finally went to voicemail. Aomine sighed and tried texting him, but he ended up spamming Kuroko's phone. Luckily, Kuroko had foreseen that people would try to contact him through his phone, and turned it off. Kuroko didn't know why he didn't tell them where he was moving, he just had a feeling that he shouldn't.

"Uggh! Testu…! Answer the goddamn phone!... Fuck. I'm gonna text him."

"Ahomine! Stop that you're spamming him!" Aomine put the phone down, and instead choosing to angrily eat his burger. The conversation soon turned to other things, and the topic of Kuroko was forgotten. After they all finished eating, they began to walk to their respective homes. It was late after all.

* * *

The weekend went by in a flash, with some of the hardest practices the team had ever been through (Riko venting her anger out on the team). Soon, it was Monday. People were getting dressed up for graduation, it wasn't a big thing for the first and second years, but for the third years? It was their send off into the real world, time to leave the nest, find jobs, or go off to college.

Fortunately, there were no third years in the Seirin basketball team, so the team was not forced to go through teary goodbyes, and emotional promises. Or so they thought, they forgot about Kuroko moving. In fact they didn't even remember it until Kuroko himself brought it up, needless to say they were all very ashamed of themselves, but Kuroko just was so forgettable at times. It didn't hurt the phantom's feelings, no, it had happened many times in the past, he was used to it. Kuroko knew they were still friends, even if they forgot about him.

The graduation was held in the morning from 7AM to 11AM. From seven to eight, the teachers congratulated their students, and began to get ready for the ceremonies. The official ceremonies (6) and all that jazz took up two hours, eight to ten. From ten to eleven or twelve depending on how hard you partied, there was an unofficial party hosted by the students in the gymnasium.

The party wasn't much, just a few snack tables (with cakes), a few streamers, yada yada, it was pretty contained. There were groups of friends in circles chatting while munching on snacks, and some more recent music lulled in the background. It was a soothing environment, Kuroko noticed, he would miss times like these when he was in America. He closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply, taking in his surroundings. Kuroko was outside under the cherry blossoms, which had a sweet aroma to it, there was a light breeze. He was just watching the party from outside, Tetsuya didn't particularly like large crowds of people.

Kuroko was the only one out here, or so he thought, until a voice spoke up.

"Hey! Kuroko! Come inside and have some cake!" Apparently Kagami noticed him missing, Kuroko smiled despite himself and walked to Kagami to accept the offer. When he joined the group of basketball players, they conversed in animated topics, such as Izuki's puns or Kagami's fear of dogs. When they came upon that second subject, Kuroko decided to remind them that he would be taking Niguo with him to America.

"Face it Kagami! You're terrified of dogs! Even little Niguo. We'll be tormenting you forever!" They turned to Kuroko half expecting the teen to pull his dog out of nowhere and scare Kagami. However, no such thing happened, instead Kuroko spoke up.

"Ah. I am unsure if you are aware, but I will be taking Niguo with me when I move today. I would intimidate Kagami, a needlessly large human, with Niguo, my small dog, but alas he is packed away for travel." Kuroko sounded disappointed at the last part, and Kagami shivered at the thought of the dog mentioned. "Don't let the appearances fool you! That dog is actually a demon in disguise, just like it's master!" Kagami often spewed that line when he was questioned on his fear. Kuroko sighed, knowing he would never hear that line again.

"Moving?" "Today?" "Are you sure you don't have the date mixed up?!" The team had almost forgotten about Tetsuya moving.

"Yes, in fact, I need to be leaving at eleven, which is in fifteen minutes." The team had the same reactions as last time, but more panicked and guilty. It didn't really set in that they would never see their shadow ever again after eleven, but once it did, they only had seven minutes left. And thus, they panicked even more. It was quite amusing to Kuroko to watch.

The first years were going around the snack tables, getting cakes for Kuroko, which he refused because he was full from the cookie he had earlier. When it reached the four minute mark, the team calmed down a bit, and told him meaningful words.

"Kuroko, I believe in you, where you go next, don't quit basketball. We'll meet up again one day." Ah, Kagami. Eloquent as ever, but Kuroko nodded all the same.

"Kuroko! Don't you dare slack on your training! And eat more food, while you're at it!" Kuroko chuckled at Riko, she really did care for him.

"Aww! Kuroko! You're leaving! It's gonna be so dull without you here! Keep it touch and come back soon!" Kiyoshi whined at his departure like a child, but that's just how Kiyoshi was. Kiyoshi was hit on the back of the head by Hyuga.

"OWW! That hurt Hyuga!"

"It was meant to stupid! Stop acting like a child." He turned to face Kuroko. "Brat, don't you dare forget anything from your time in the team, especially not respect for senpais!"

"Yes, Hyuga. I promise not to forget." Kuroko checked the time, it was eleven. He had to go, or else he would miss the flight! "Ah, sorry everyone. I must go now, I'll miss my flight." Before he could turn to leave, they dog piled him in a mountain of hugs, tears, and farewells. The team was so wrapped up in the moment that they didn't notice the aura engulfing Kuroko. He would miss his flight at this rate!

"I swear, I love you all, but if you don't get off me this instance, I'll make you regret that your mother met your father. I have a flight to catch." The tone of his voice was sadistic, but somehow caring. Tetsuya appreciated the gesture, truly he did, but he didn't like a lot of people randomly pouncing on him. He also had a flight to catch.

The team jumped off of Kuroko, helping him while looking sheepish.

"Sorry, Kuroko. We couldn't help ourselves, we probably won't see you again."

"Yes, well, I'd best be off now. Goodbye, Seirin." And with that he turned and left to walk to his car filled with luggage. Kuroko realized it might have come off as it bit harsh, but if he didn't leave now he'd never make the flight.

The team's faces flashed hurt and betrayal, before one by one they ran forward to walk with Kuroko to his car. By the time the team caught up, Kuroko was starting his car. He backed out, then seemingly noticing them for the first time.

"Oh? What's all this about?"

"We couldn't leave things at that! We wanted to see you off! And give you a proper send off!"

"Well, I truly must be going now." He began to pull out of the parking lot, the team ran with him saying their goodbyes. Just when Kuroko thought they stopped as he pulled out of the campus, they yelled all together.

"GOODBYE, KUROKO! WE'LL NEVER FORGET YOU! GOOD LUCK IN…" The voices broke down into raged shouting as they realized Kuroko never said where he was going. They yelled once more.

"WAIT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Kuroko laughed, honked his horn, and yelled out the window.

"GOODBYE, SEIRIN!" He wasn't sure if they could hear him or not, but it was goodbye for now. He quickly drove (almost speeding!) to the airport, they cost him a good ten minutes or so! He met up with the guy, that he sold the car to, Tetsuya wouldn't be needing the car anymore, so he figured why not sell it? Kuroko then checked his luggage, and safely made it on the plane by twelve thirty.

* * *

It was a large plane, and it was a direct flight to America. The total flight was slightly longer than before due to turbulence, but Kuroko made it to America safe and sound.

He was a little jet lagged when he got off the plane, so when everyone he knew in America popped out of the seats, it took him a minute to recognize them.

"WELCOME BACK TETSU!" The voices gave him a headache, Kuroko felt bad for whoever had to deal with those fanatics. He slowly looked over to source of the sound with a poker face, for some reason, the noisy people were all looking at him, as if waiting for him to say something. The noisy people kind of looked familiar when he thought about it, he stared at them for a second longer, before turning his head forward, they must be talking to someone else. Kuroko paused, wait, but wasn't his name Testu? Maybe it was for him, the more he thought about those faces, the more familiar they were. It took a minute before it clicked in. Once it did, he turned his head back to look at his friends and family.

"Oh. Hello everyone." And everyone sweatdropped, thinking the same exact thing,

'You're just noticing us now?!' Ah, they certainly had missed their favorite blue head. The first to recover was Mattie.

"I honestly didn't know what I was expecting. Anyways! Good to see you Tetsu! You've changed a bit, haven't you? You're a bit taller now…" And thus the energetic group greeted the tired Tetsu. In the end, his family hauled him home to recover from jet lag and get settled in his new home.

* * *

By the end of the month, it was like Kuroko never even left for Japan. He caught up with everyone in just a week, in America he was quiet the social butterfly. The first few days he was reserved like he was always in Japan, but Mattie pried Tetsu out of his shell over an over. In July, he got his citizenship, normally it would take much, MUCH, longer but Tetsuya's father knew people. Kuroko applied and got accepted into Mattie's school by August. They had great plans for the upcoming school year, and the many, many pranks they could pull.

Tetsuya's English was excellent, he had a large vocabulary, and his pronunciations were flawless. He learned the ways of how to fit in, and not do anything embarrassing unintentionally. He was practically a local, he fit into the community so well, that outsiders would never think that Tetsu was from anywhere else besides California. He was an outstanding citizen, he volunteered to help the homeless, and babysat kids regularly. From all his outside work and play, he began to get a tan by the end of summer, he was a golden brown that all the girls seemed to swoon over. He also cut his hair to a comfortable summer cut.

When school started again, he was a chick magnet, setting dates up for him and his friends. Girls really went for the hot, nice, model citizen over the usual American douchebag (7). As stated previously, Kuroko was quite the social butterfly and gained loads more popularity when he went to school.

One day in class, they were going over a subject he covered already in Japan. If he recalled correctly, he had to help Kagami understand it through one or two tutoring sessions during lunch. Speaking of Kagami, and all his friends in Japan for that matter, they hadn't really crossed his mind at all this summer. He idly wondered how they were doing, and hoped they were okay.

"Mr. Kuroko! Answer number 12." He was soon drawn out of his thoughts to return to class. That was the last time they ever really crossed his mind, he was so busy with everything in America, he didn't have the time to worry about Kagami and the others.

The school year went by in a flash, and it was summer once more, his last summer as a high school student. Due to his increase in popularity, Kuroko was invited to parties every Saturday night. He and Mattie would go and do the stupid stuff that teenagers do. However, while Kuroko hung out with his new friends at parties, he still kept up the tradition of playing basketball everyday.

One day, about two weeks into summer, a blonde female spectator showed up, she seemed like Tetsu had seen her somewhere before, but he couldn't place it. After about half an hour of looking around the courts and watching them play basketball, she spoke up.

"You all are very good! Do you all play on the same team during school?"

"Um, no. We don't… And if you don't mind me asking who're you?" It was John who spoke up.

"Oh! Excuse me for not introducing myself! I'm Alexandra Garcia! But everyone calls me Alex. I used to play basketball professionally but now I just help streetballers with technique and stuff." Everyone paused for a moment to digest all that. Kuroko thought that name rang a bell, but the bell must've been far off because Tetsu couldn't hear it. "I hope you all don't mind me being here! I've just stopped in with two of my pupils for some training! Do you mind if we use those courts over there for the next two weeks or so?" They nodded dumbly. The court fell into an awkward silence.

"Well! I can tell when I've overstayed my welcome! I'll be here tomorrow with the two idiots! They're quite intimidating! They used to live around here, so do be nice!さようなら!" She left without saying another word. The group could tell what she said was in Japanese, since they've heard Tetsu speak it so many times. They turned to Tetsuya for translation. Mattie promised to learn the language, but he just couldn't understand the pronunciations or anything verbal.

"Of course you look to me for translation! Ever heard of Google Translate™? Anyways, she said goodbye! Now lets get back to the game, I do believe I was in the process of thoroughly kicking Mattie's ass." And the game resumed with a new ferocity.

* * *

The next day, by the time the first friend showed up which was at one, Alex was on one of the other courts instructing two very large and intimidating basketball players, just like she said she would. When the teens started playing their usual game, they noticed out of the corners of their eyes that the two "pupils" as the woman called them, were extremely skilled, focused, and not to mention monsters. They were epic beasts! They never tired! They weren't even sweating!

The group of teens soon realized that nothing would change over with the "pupils", so they all started to focus on the game they were playing. Before they knew it, it was four, they dispersed one by one, like they used to, leaving Mattie and Tetsuya on the hill. They rolled down the hill a bit, laughing, then they looked up at the clouds pointing out different shapes, with the occasional deep thought.

Before they knew it, it was five, they had to baby sit their sisters at Kuroko's house while Mr. Mrs. Kuroko went out to dinner. They walked to the house joking and laughing, until they came upon where the palm tree was.

"This brings back memories, don't it?"

"Sure does. I wonder if my book is still here? I never got it back you know." Tetsu rummaged through the bush to find his beloved book.

"Oh please! Like a book could last that long! It's been, what, two years now?" But Tetsuya kept on looking. Until he held up a floppy, worn out, old book with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Oh, looky what I have here? I wonder what it could be? It has a cover, and what's this? Pages? And they turn as well? OH?! There's more? Get this! Get this! The pages actually had ink on them. Oh! Oh! And what's this? The ink forms words? I wonder what this glorious contraption is? Do you know kind fellow?" Kuroko said, his words drenched in sarcasm, while Mattie glared hole in Tetsu. Mattie ripped the book from Kuroko's grasp, and started his own act.

"Why, I do believe this is a book! Yes, good sir! Definitely a book! Quite the rarity, this one. Nobody keep old tattered books anymore! It's practically an artifact! Oh my! It would do wonders on the market! Please, allow me to take it off your hands!" Kuroko snatched the book back and said,

"I might have an interest in this neat, book, was it? If it can catch me a pretty penny, I'll take it!" Mattie took the book back, and continued the charade.

"Ah. But sir! You are forgetting! This is your book not mine! It is yours to do as you wish!" And thus he gave custody of the book over to Tetsu, who dropped the act.

"Seriously dude, we need to get to my place quick. Mom's expecting us before 5:15."

"Shit! Why didn't you tell me?! We gotta get moving!" They dropped the book and sprinted to Tetsu's house as fast as their legs could carry them. It was already 5:12.

* * *

They didn't notice that three figures were watching from the top of the hill. Alex called a quits for the day at five, her pupils had worked themselves half to death. Her pupils, Kagami and Himuro, were cooling themselves off watching the park from the top off the hill. The court they practiced on today were a little different from other street courts, most street courts they played in were in the middle of a city, this one was in the middle of a neighborhood. Kagami didn't know why they were here, he just knew that Alex had brought him and Himuro here for no reason.

He took a long swig out of his water bottle and surveyed the area, nothing unusual. At least nothing unusual until he looked at the bottom of the hill he was resting on. At the bottom, was two boys their age laying on their back pointing at clouds. It would have been just fine, if one of them didn't have the same shade of hair that Kuroko did.

Ever since Kuroko went missing to some other school, Kagami and the other GoMs became obsessed, checking every school in Japan that had a student with his shade of blue hair.

Apparently, his color isn't as common. So, this kid had to be Kuroko, it couldn't be a coincident! Right?! He looked to Alex for confirmation, she walked and crouched behind him, and started whispering.

"Listen, Kagami, before you go running off and doing something stupid, you should know something. I tracked him down for you. Yes, that is Kuroko Tetsuya." Both her pupils looked at her like she was crazy, Kagami because why would Kuroko be in America? And Himuro thought Alex was insane because she tracked down someone who even the great Akashi could not track. But Himuro knew Kagami needed to see the blue head, he was driving himself crazy.

"It's not healthy, what you were doing. I found him for you, so you'd stop destroying yourself. But he has a new life here in America, he's a completely different person now-a-days. You probably won't believe me, but that's precisely why I brought you here."

"To stalk a fellow high school student?" Interrupted Himuro sarcastically.

"Exactly!"

"I'm pretty sure that's against the laws here."

"To hell with that! Now listen closely Kagami. And don't confront him unless you're 100% sure that you know who he is now." The teens below stood up and walked casually across the street to a stump, where presumably a palm tree used to be. Kuroko looked around in the bush for something, he pulled out a book, and they began chatting taking the book back and forth. They did this until they suddenly dropped the book and began running somewhere around the corner.

That was the stalkers cue, to descend the hill, and inspect the book. The title was in Japanese, it was called ピーターパン, or in English 'Peter Pan'. It was a pretty old weathered worn out book, the pages were wrinkled, and the cover was floppy. But on the cover Kagami could just barely make out この本は黒子哲也に属し which in English translates to 'This book belongs to Kuroko Tetsuya.'

Kagami closed his eyes and took the information in, so that really was Kuroko. It had been hard to recognize him due to that tan and haircut. Kagami deduced that he would need to stalk Kuroko some more and share this new-found information with Kuroko Finding Squad (a.k.a. just Kagami and the GoM.) He texted them he found Kuroko, and they freaked out, just like Kagami did. He refused to be intimidated by Akashi's threats and didn't tell them anything besides he found Kuroko and is now stalking him.

The next two weeks went by quickly, Kagami found that Kuroko was really a different person. He was having so much fun with his new friends that Kagami began to wonder if Kuroko even wanted to play basketball with him, or even thought about Kagami once in a while. Kagami was afraid of losing his best friend, but over the two weeks he saw his best friend was lost long ago.

At the end of the two weeks, Kagami decided not to interfere in Kuroko's current life but to instead leave a note that had his approval on it.

Kagami left America with a sad smile on his face knowing he had done the right thing. Himuro looked to his best friend looking out the window, Himuro knew Taiga was sad now, but he was slowly but surely growing up as a person. Alex stayed in America to do some gambling, by some stroke of luck she won the jackpot and rode first class all the way to Japan.

Around a week after the strange blonde woman and her monster pupils, Kuroko decided to finally bring his book home. He went to the bushes and picked it up by the binding. As he picked it up a note fluttered onto the ground. Curious, he picked it up and inspected it, it was in English. Kagami had shown Kuroko some English in his handwriting a while back, and Tetsu recognized it to be his handwriting. It said:

 _Hey Kuroko,_

 _I guess it's been awhile huh? I haven't seen you since last year's graduation, it feels like it wasn't too long ago. You've grown a bit, glad you're finally taking Coach's words about food to heart. Your friends seem very nice and funny, I like them. Seirin isn't the same without you, we managed to get third in the Interhigh. Right after Aomine and Akashi, Aomine stole first place. Don't worry I keep his temper in check. Please stop by in Japan for something, okay? I'm keeping all the lights bright. Also, people get paranoid, contact us more often. I'll be the light to your shadow, if you'll the shadow to my light. I'll always be there partner. As long as your dog isn't there_ _._

 _So long for now,_

 _Kagami Taiga_

Kuroko folded the piece of paper up, grabbed the book, and walked toward his house. He had some long distance phone calls to make.

 **END (maybe)**

 **(1) In case you didn't notice in Kuroko's mind "official lights" mean people like Kagami and Aomine who are practical and useful in making his shadow darker during games. And all his friends brighten his dark friendless world so he calls them lights.**

 **(2) Yeah. Think of the best job offer ever! TWO entire MONTHS off per year! That's insane! Most people barely get a week off!**

 **(3) NOT ACCURATE AT ALL! I have never been to LA before, so this is just a guess, please bear with me.**

 **(4) He paused because this is his first day in America. He was speaking English. He had to introduce himself in local customs which were explained just the day before, so he was unsure about whether or not he was doing it correctly, so he paused to think about it.**

 **(5) Yes, I am aware Kuroko's birthday is on January 31, not some random day in the middle of summer. It works better this way.**

 **(6) Okay, I'll be honest with you I have no ideas what type of ceremonies there are in Japan so I tried to keep it generic as possible.**

 **(7) I don't mean to offend anyone, but at my school the majority of the guys are typical douchebags, so I used experience. Most of the girls at my school fell head over heels for this overly nice new boy once, so yeah…**

 **UGGGHHH! I NEVER WANT TO WRITE AGAIN! That was a lot of typing! I'm sorry I meant for it to be a "Kuroko quits Seirin BB team" I swear it started out like that… then this mess happened. I apologize for anything I spelled or translated wrong, google translate and what not. Same with all my stories that aren't strictly one shots, if this gets more than 5 reviews or 10 fav/follows, then I'll get started on a new chapter to add on. Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

 **~Frosty**


	2. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Okay, he could do this. All the planning and thinking after he had found the note came up to this.

Time to talk to Kagami.

 _Click._

"This is Kagami speaking, who is this?" Kuroko's breath caught when he heard his old friend's voice. How desperately he wanted to tell him it was Kuroko who had called, that he missed him. But still he couldn't speak. He held his breath and wished for Kagami's voice again.

"Well?" There it was again. Kuroko quickly swallowed and began the conversation.

"I.."

"..." Kuroko winced at how the 'conversation' was going so far, one minute in already.

" _*ahem*_ , sorry about that, got a little choked up. This is Tetsu."

"...Hey Tetsu. I didn't recognize the number" His voice conveyed an emotion Kuroko couldn't truly describe. Something short of sadness and resignation but with restricted joy. Something far too calm for how Kuroko remembered his temperament.

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"Ah, yeah, I changed numbers in december. Have an iPhone now. So, uh, anyways I found your note."

"Yeah."

"I called to let you know, Taiga, just because I moved to America doesn't mean I've forgotten about you and the rest." Clearly he has, he just doesn't want to admit it.

"Look, I didn't leave you a note for you to pity me." Damn straight, Kuroko.

"I.. I don't? I just-"

"You just what?! Look, Kuroko. We haven't heard hide or hair of you anywhere for the last _year_ until I found you a month ago."

"And I'm sorry about that but-" This mofo really trying.

"I'm not finished." Kagami's cold tone shut Kuroko up real quick. "For a _year,_ Kuroko. I'm still getting over the fact that I had to _hunt you down_ and leave a _note_ for you to even contact me! *sigh* Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you are contacting me now, but uh, it's a lil late pal. I'm still your light but you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little upset with you." Bitter sarcasm dripped from his words sprung by hurt.

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"I see. I'll have to make this type of call more regular then. Kagami, I'm truly sorry I hurt you and the others-" Truly, that had been tactless on his part.

"Tell them yourself." Ouch, Kagami really wasn't pulling punches. Kuroko decided not to let this wind down into something nasty and changed the topic.

"-But I'm curious just how you managed to track me down."

"..It was my teacher. She dragged me and Himuro over to America a few weeks ago and we saw you and your friends playing." Interesting.

"So that was you and Himuro on the courts?"

"Yeah. You know, you've really changed. That new haircut makes you stand out more, how do you stay as a shadow?" His tone was a somber sort.

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"I don't. When I play with my friends, its for fun. Everyone plays all positions and we all know each other, so its not like I can slip away easy. Besides, I don't really want to either. I left that behind in Japan. I'm not too shabby at three pointers nowadays." That hurt. His friends? Then what the hell was the rest of them back in Japan to him? And Kuroko, not a shadow?! That was his whole thing! How could they be partners on the court now?

"Well, who would've known." Kagami gave a humorless chuckle. Of course, they would never be partners on the court again. He was a fool to think nothing had changed.

"I'm sorry to break it to you like this Kagami, but I'm not a shadow any longer. I'm a real person."

"Never said that you weren't."

"You sure acted like it sometimes." After all they'd been through together, how could Kuroko say that?!

"Look, I don't know what the hell is up with you but I never treated you like you weren't a real person!"

"I.. I'm sorry. You're right, that was uncalled for. I just… somedays were tough. With you and the others. My own self esteem too. You know, after the generation of miracles broke up in middle school, I was the most invisible I'd ever been in my entire life. I didn't want to exist and so I appeared so. Ever since, I started truly loving being alive and each day I recovered, the less invisible I became."

"Kuroko, I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. But now you know. I've started to actually like myself again. Being a shadow was both really unhealthy for me mentally and physically. I haven't broken a wrist since I left. I haven't starved myself. I'm finally living. I'm truly happy."

"I can tell." Kagami sighed. Of course, there was some reason like that for all that Kuroko had changed. Before the call, Kagami had secretly been wishing that Kuroko hadn't changed, that maybe he'd come back to Japan and everything could be as it were. He realized now how selfish and hopeless that wish now was. He couldn't help but feel a sinking sadness as he finally realized the old happy days were over and never to come back. But now, he supposed they were only really happy for Kagami.

"I didn't contact you all, because I really did need some time for myself to recover. In fact, I still am. Recovery isn't linear."

"I'm glad to hear you are recovering though. Look, Kuroko, if its too difficult for you, or brings back bad memories, you don't have to contact me." It'd probably be best if Kuroko never spoke to him again. He probably caused his suffering. Kagami's thoughts started to spiral into self hate.

"Taiga, I don't blame you. It wasn't your fault. Besides, I shouldn't keep running away. It's been a year after all. I don't want to lose everyone again."

"Then don't."

"I won't." Kagami gave a small smirk at that. At least one thing about Kuroko hadn't changed. His determination was still strong as ever.

"So, lets get this friendship thing back on huh? Meet any cute girls yet?"

"Ahahaha, I'll have you know I'm quite popular with the ladies! And so is your favorite dog!"

"Ahhhhhhh! Just thinking of that thing scares me!"

"Oh, puh-lease, that was the most fake scream I've ever heard! You'd do a real scream if you've seen how big he is now!"

"How big?"

"At my waist!" He will never admit how loud or horror movie like his scream was to anybody.

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When the call finally ended, Kuroko fell back into his bed and crossed his arms over his eyes as a smile crept onto his face. Kuroko still had a few hard calls to make before he could really get back in touch with his old friends, but this was a start. Yeah, a good start.

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When the call finally ended, Kagami stood up and stretched. Thinking back on the conversation, he let out a loud laugh and shook his head.

"That Testu… He's really something." He sat back down and thought back. Testu had changed for the better, and while Kagami generally didn't like change, he was okay with this. They were still partners, just not as close anymore. And that only meant he didn't have to live his life in fear of his dog anymore. And he was more than okay with that.

 **FIN.**

 **AN: Well well well. Look who's back from the dead. It's me! The author! Haha, I haven't posted shit since like last year! I have excuses but i doubt you'll wanna hear them. Just kidding! I know you all love me so much you'll read them anyways they are: got super depressed over the election, busy as fuck, lazy, no motivation, aaand thats about it! Anyways! I have the rest of summer free, so I should be more active on here. So about this chapter,, personally I don't think it's very good and I might edit it later but who knows. I wrote it within the past hour or so and now its basically 1:30 am so I'll just post it and worry about repercussions l8r. I don't really like how I ended it.. But I'm too tired to think of something beter so :D This was the last chap so theres no hope for another one. I honestly have no idea when the other chaps are coming out, so like,, :D ANyways! Hope you enjoyed! Please review and favorite! If you liked this, please check out my other Kuroko shit! Okay byye!**

 **-Frosty**


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